“The condition today seems like it’s completely frozen but it’s very soft. It’s not that slippery anymore because it’s not completely frozen. The colour of cracks on ice are whiter these days whereas it used to be a more bluish colour. The way ice forms is different maybe because some ice moves around. The conditions of the ice is different, more difficult to pass. Back then it used to be slippery to our sleds making it easy to use for our sleds.”
“The snow and sea water mixes while it’s freezing and we call it punnirujuk (similar to lard-like mix) and that is why it deteriorates so much easily now. The kind of mix will accumulate down wind blocked by the land.”
“[I]t is noticeable that the permafrost is melting to a deeper level. Even if you are not looking for these signs, it is noticeable that the land is sagging, especially the areas that have glaciers.”
“The winter is seemingly a shadow of its former self. It is quite short now and the dark period is when we had ice to travel on, at least starting from November we would be traveling by dog team on the ice. Nowadays, it is right up to December and even right up to Christmas that Inuit are out boating in the fiord. That is how much it has changed since my youth. You can now boat during the twelve days of Christmas. It was unheard of in the old days.”
“[I]t is noticeable that the sun is stronger in its intensity. These are not real burns, but they are a result of the drying out of the skin. It [skin] starts to peel more. Before, we would only get a suntan. Nowadays, some people start to burn and peel. There are more problems now with the skin cracking and peeling.”
“Nowadays, the weather is quite different according to my observations. As I said I am no academic professor, but the wind seems to spring out of nowhere and when the clouds start to change, it is immediate and the wind springs up right away, even during the spring.”
“The weather is completely different now. The winter is a lot shorter in terms of timing and months. The changes are quite obvious and the way spring arrives now, with a rush and the way the snow has melted off the land so quickly, including all of the ice on the water, these are changes that are different from the past.”
“The way snow forms these days is a lot lesser than before. We used to get lots of snow, but nowadays we get less. The snow on the ground melts quicker these days. Those days the snow didn’t melt that quick like today. It is probably due to not enough snow on the ground. It used to be good for our sleds, when the snow was good for longer periods of time. These days, it is still good but only for a shorter period of time.”
“The changes I’ve seen on ice are that before 1962 the ice conditions were good those years. The ice condition changed after 1962. As a hunter, I started noticing that ice was starting to form very late. Around 1960 the ice used to form early. When it had formed the ice conditions were good those days, but after 1960’s even though the ice has formed, it was still not good to use. Those days the ice used to form completely during January. The ice at that time is completely formed as we can go just about everywhere to hunt/camp.
“Nowadays we are getting wind from everywhere. The winds are shifty and constantly changing their point of origin. The weather signs point towards a clear calm day, but the winds suddenly whips up and that is how it seems to operate in this day and age.”